Brazil ended their home World Cup to a cacophony of boos on Saturday as the defensive errors that crushed their bid for a sixth title resurfaced in a shoddy 3-0 loss to the Netherlands in the third-place playoff match.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
Portugal's Nani is poised to make his 99th appearance for his country in a crunch clash with Hungary on Wednesday and has been an automatic choice for the Selecao for a decade, yet there is a feeling the forward has not fulfilled his dazzling potential. Nani, blessed with searing pace, mesmerisingly quick feet and more tricks than a children's entertainer, will turn 30 in November and Euro 2016 could give the Fenerbahce star the platform for a transfer back to one of Europe's elite leagues. Scorer of Portugal's sole goal at the tournament - a neat finish in a 1-1 draw with Iceland - Nani has so far outperformed his captain and former Manchester United team mate Cristiano Ronaldo although he should have added to his tally of 18 international goals in Saturday's stalemate against Austria.
European champions Spain produced a quality exhibition of tiki-taka as they decimated Iran 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup, at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Kochi, on Sunday.
A superb 83rd minute free-kick from captain Neymar gave Brazil a winning start under new coach Dunga as they beat Colombia 1-0 in a fiercely contested friendly on Friday.
'Living in Brazil, I had internalised the football mythology of that country, the way I had learnt Mahabharata stories in my childhood. The tragedy at the Maracana stadium in 1950, when a confident Brazil had lost to Uruguay in the finals. They tell the story of this debacle, this 'Hiroshima' that hit them, like the Shias lament the death of Ali. It led to the Brazilian team burning their white uniforms and switching later to Yellow and blue symbolising their national colours,' says Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former envoy to Brazil.
Dani Alves has blamed the media for Brazil's unsuccessful World Cup campaign but conceded that the team did not prepare properly ahead of the humiliating 7-1 defeat by Germany in the semi-final.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
